Athel Loren
Athel Loren is a very large forest located in southern France, where it stands as one of the largest refuges of the Sindar Elves, and the home of the Kingdom of Lothlorian. The Sindar Elves of Athel Loren were very close with the previous Bretonian Kingdom that once ruled over France, and this has led to a very hostile relationship with the new leaders of the land in the Orcs of whom are the bitter invaders of Athel Loren. The destruction of France by Orcs has led the Elves of Athel Loren to become very violent towards intruders. Athel Loren is dominated heavily by the Sindari Elves of the Lothlorian distinction of whom are the only real population of humanoids in the forest. Alongside the Lothlorian Elves of the forest stand a dwindling population of Treekin of whom were once dominant in Athel Loren but following the destruction of Aldrassil the world tree of Athel Loren they became increasingly diminished as they were unable to use the world tree to form their physical forms. The Lothlorian of Athel Loren differ greatly from the Elves in High Forest in that they have very little communion with the Forest and have allowed obsession with Magi to overtake much of their male population. At the center of Athel Loren lies the Island of Quel'Dalas, and there lies the Sunwell. History War with the Dwarves Main Article : War of Vengeance It was during the War of Vengeance that the life of Sylvanus along with her family would change completely. She went along with her siblings when the call of the Pheonix King went out for all Elves to assist the war effort in France against the aggressive and monsterous Dwarves. As the conflict continued the four siblings began to show a split in what they were interested in. Vareesa followed the teachings of Maflurion Stormrage and looked for a forest that teemed with the life that the world was made of. Unlike her siblings who followed the general teachings of Malfurion Sylvanus was a believer in the teachings of Laera Sunstrider, and his words to her had been for her to find a place that teemed with the power of Magi that he sought. She was confused about this command but in the end she did it anyway out of devotion to him. She spent her time looking for a forest that met this criteria and eventually came upon the forest of Athel Loren. Deep within this forest was an island which she couldn`t take her eyes off. One day as she walked the edge of the forest she laid down to sleep, and when she woke up beside her was Illidan Stormrage. Illidan spoke to her of how this forest was teeming with Magi, and that he could litterly feel his power grow every moment he stayed in it. With this knowledge she prepared to leave the forest and find her siblings but discovered that they were all devided on what to do when the war came to an end. This devide in which forests they all were visiting would have little importance during the war but when the Elves were forced to return to Ulthuan following the attack by the Dark Elves the three siblings found themselves serperated for the first time on how to move forward. Vareesa was direhard in her devotion to the high Druid in Furion Stormrage, and because of this she wished to follow whatever command Furion told them to do. This was different then Sylvanus who had become involved in a minor off shoot of the SIndar Elves led by a prince named Laera Sunstrider and she wished to listen to his teachings about the forest. In the center of this debate were Alleria, and Legolas who simply wanted to be a part of the forest as they had always been. Founding of the Kingdom of Lothlorian As Malfurion Stormrage started the exodus of the Sindar Elves the second most powerful Sindar Elf in Laera Sunstrider took his followers and went as well. During the crossing he used Magi to make sure that certain ships were delayed quite heavily. In this way the ships of his followers as well as several other Sindar Elves that he wanted did not arrive in France until nearly two months later. As time wore on the Elves on board became horrified that they would never arrive, and that some great evil was delaying them, but each day Laera Sunstrider used his charisma to control more and more of the Elves. By this point Laera Sunstrider spread word to his supporters amongst Malfurion that the ships had crashed into rocks leaving the fleet of Laera dead or lost in the waters. Malfurion with great sadness would leave behind volunteers of whom took the form of Laera supporters to wait for the stragglers but he took the rest of the Sindar Elves with him to High Forest. When the second wave finally did arrive in France and did not find Malfurion waiting for them those who were not among the devout followers of Laera were scared, and open to manipulation. Laera used this moment to rally the second wave of Sindar Elves of which there were many of his personal followers, and brought them to the forest of Lothlorian which was the forest scouted by Sylvanus during the War of Vengeance, and of which she had advised him of. When the Elves arrived in Athel Loren they were guided throughout by Sylvanas who had intimate knowledge of the forest. In this way the large group of Sindar Elves was able to dramatically eliminate the local Trolloc without much difficulty. With the forest clear Sylvanus lead Laera to the island that she had seen, and been told by Illidan was a source of great power, but when they arrived there Laera discovered that they had been tricked by Illidan and that there was nothing special about the island. As he prepared to give up on this spot out of the water appeared Illidan Stormrage. Illidan begged to speak to Laera priveatly and when he agreed the two discussed how Illidan had absorbed the Skull of Maethor thanks to the efforts of his children and for this he wished to meand the differences between the two by helping to craft a massive devise which would be able to harnass a massive amount of Magi, and become the culmination of everything that Laera had ever dreamed of. Laera was skeptical at best but told Illidan that he had one year to complete the devise, and if he succeded then all would be forgiven but if he failed then he would hunt him down and kill him. Following this Illidan travelled to the Island of Quel`Dalas as the Elves had come to call it, and begin constructing the Sunwell. While working on this he was watched over by Laera`s trusted daughter Maen`Tryden Sunstrider who was a youthful but still gifted Magi. As the sunwell was being constructed the Elves obviously could not sit idle so they were joined together and begin constructing the city of Silvermoon. Founding of Silvermoon Silvermoon was constructed over the course of the year that Illidan was constructing the Sunwell, and during this time the Sindar Elves who were heavy in number constructed a city that could home the entire group of them meaning that the well over 400,000 Elves at the time needed to live there. The city was constructed out of white stone and living plants in the style of the ancient Ulthuani empire and interwoven with the natural topography of the landscape. The city contained the famous Academies of Silvermoon as a center for the learning of Arcane Magic and Sunstrider Spire, a majestic palace home to the Royal family of the Sindar Elves of Athel Loren. The Convocation of Silvermoon (also known as "The Council of Silvermoon"), the ruling body of the Sindar elves was also based here within the Court of the Sun. Nearly a year after starting the construction and nearing completion the entire society of Athel Loren stopped as Illidan returned to the main island accompanied still by Maen`Tryden. Betrayal Illidan would come shore with Maen`Tryden still at his side but she was now clearly quite pregnant, and this caused great anger from Laera Sunstrider of whom had planned her marriage to nobles loyal to him and this put a serious wrinkle in his plans. From this anger he would reject the deal he had with Illidan Stormage and after a great argument broke out Illidan would be taken into chains while Maen`Tryden would also be taken to the palace and kept locked away. Illidan would be kept under guard by Maeiv Shadowsong of whom would be placed in charge of the new Lothlorian Barrow Dens which would serve as a large prison for Athel Loren. While Illidan and Maen`Tryden remained locked away the upper echolon of the forces of Laera Sunstrider would travel to the now created Sunwell and upon arrival basked in its power with several passing out from the effects of the Sunwell. Large forces were brought to the island where they would construct the fortress of Quel'Dalas and completely cover the Sunwell within. While this was happening communication begin to open fully between High Forest where the main force of the Sindar Elves had landed, and the now growing lands of Laera Sunstrider of which Laera attempted to slow as he wanted to keep complete control. After months of construction Laera would stand over the top leadership and proclaim the creation of the Kingdom of Lothlorian, and in his first act he ordered the execution of his sister, and Illidan for treason. As the preperations were being made for the two's execution Alleria Sunstrider would sectrely send word to Malfurion Stormrage in High Forest of what was happening, and after the initial shock that the Sindari Elves had survived in the second group Malfurion would go to Athel Loren in large force. Captain Vur'talos Darkshadow would arrive before the main High Forest army with some four hundred sentinels and would relay the coming of Malfurion Stormrage to the Lothlorian commanders of whom led by Laera planned to resist and tried to kill Illidan but found his, and Maen'Tyrden's cell's were locked through Magi and they couldn't get in. Moving in from the west another force of some two thousand Sindari Elves from High Forest arrived under the command of Hammon Winterdew and would block the western approach into Silvermoon awaiting the arrival of the main force led by Malfurion. Arriving at Silvermoon with nearly one hundred and fifty thousand SIndari Elves at his back Malfurion would demand the return of his brother to stand for trial, and at first Laera would refuse, but as the High Forest siege of Silvermoon continued many Sindari in his own ranks whispered of the right of Malfurions claims and thus he was forced to relent and returned Illidan to Malfurion, but the relationship between High Forest, and Athel Loren was broken. While Malfurion was willing to fight over the return of his brother he was less willing to fight over Maen Sunstrider of which Illidan once he was returned to the High Forest lines would take as a betrayal and not even the words of Tyrande could stop him from abandoning his brother who had just saved him. Runestones The construction of the Runestones was a religious effort for the Lothlorian Elves, and for the Sentinels/Sindar Elves this was the culmination of all the work the forest needed to finally protect itself. Following the contruction of the Sunwell, and Silvermoon city the Elves begin to expand beyond the natural bounderies of Silvermoon, and the region around it, and thus with this expansion came the growth in deaths amongst these expansions from the nearbye Trolloc who still entered the forest basically at will. In order to change this the easily accesible areas of the forest were laced with Runestones that made entry through them extremely painful except for through small entry points. Having entry points meant that the Sentinels, and the rest of the Lothlorian army could more easily focus on the attackers and not have to defend a vast forest that spread them too thin. As these runestones came to be more numerous the expansion of the kingdom came to coincide with the location of the Runestones, and thus in areas where they were heavily concentrated you would very likely find a large settlement. Lothlorian Civil War Main Article : Lothlorian Civil War Alliance with Bretonia Fall of France Main Article : War in France Much like the Dwarves of Karak Matron , the Elves of Athel Loren have created a strong relationship with the Bretonians, and the Fall of Hispania has them in the mood to assist the Bretonians . The Elves of Athel Loren marshel their forces to assist in the defence of Marsielles . "The threat of the San'Layn was something I believed was gone. I believed that in my core and for that we have been dealt a massive blow to our people. I have failed to protect our people in the way I had promised I would. For that I will make them pay. I will carve a bloody path through the San'Layn." -Kael'Thalas Demographics Athel Loren is dominated heavily by the Sindari Elves of the Lothlorian distinction of whom are the only real population of humanoids in the forest. Alongside the Lothlorian Elves of the forest stand a dwindling population of Treekin of whom were once dominant in Athel Loren but following the destruction of Aldrassil the world tree of Athel Loren they became increasingly diminished as they were unable to use the world tree to form their physical forms. Population Centers Points of Interest The Sunwell See Also : Sunwell The Sunwell is an amazingly powerful Magi device crafted by theLothlorian Sindar Elves to harness and magnify their Magi powers. The Sunwell sits on the Lothlorian island of Quel'Dalas and is housed within the magnificant Sunwell Palace. Crafted early in the History of the Kingdom of Lothlorian the devise has cemented the Lothlorian obsession with Magi , and has become the focal point of a unique Lothlorian religion. During the Lothlorian Civil War it was the Sunwell that became the focal point of the later conflict between the San`Layn, and the Lothlorian Elves, which ended with the brief capture of the sunwell by the San`Layn and then recaptured by the Lothlorians. Since this the operation and control of the Sunwell has been more important and because of this the Lothlorians have created the most elite warriors in the KIngdom in the Shattered Sun Order. Category:Elves Category:Kingdom of Lothlorian Category:Forest Category:Lothlorian Elves